By Sani Ahmed

It is without doubt that the President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick has outlived his usefulness ​​at the Abuja Glass House. The major narrative that has dominated Nigerian football since Pinnick took charge as the President has regrettably been cases of endemic corruption. The mindless acts of corrupt practices so far manifested by Amaju Pinnick and members of his Executive has so far had its negative impacts on the performances of all the nationals’ teams. 

Till date, in the long history of Nigerian football, Pinnick stands out albeit unenviably as the one with the heaviest moral burden. Even as the NFF President, Amaju has the biggest corruption charges slammed against him by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP). He had since been charged with moving dishonestly and intentionally the sum of about N5.6 billion belonging to the NFF without the consent of the NFF Board. This charge is quite grand and monumental in the history of Nigerian football administration! 

The barrage of lies concocted by Amaju Pinnick to defraud the NFF to the tune of millions of dollars are being detected on a daily basis. It is regrettable that the man who is heading the nation’s football body is not only deeply enmeshed in corruption, but oozes out moral stenches that has already disqualified him from continuing to occupy the position of NFF president. 

If Amaju Pinnick were to be in a saner clime, he would have willingly resigned from office or be forced to resign. Pinnick has simply lost the moral right to remain as NFF President the very day he was charged to court alongside four other members of his Executive by the federal government with alleged misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to the nation’s football body. Already hanging on the neck of Pinnick is a 17-count charge that is marked, FHC/ABJ/CR/93/2019. The matter is before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Of course Pinnick is not alone in this ignominious act of perfidy. His other partners in deep corruption are Sunusi Mohammed, NFF Secretary; Seyi Akinwumi, the 2nd Vice-President, Shehu Dikko and Yusuff Fresh, who is an Executive member of NFF. The allegedly misappropriated funds were paid into NFF account by the world football governing body, FIFA being the appearance fees in the group stage of the Russia 2018 World Cup.   

The same Pinnick as the 1st Vice President of CAF alongside the CAF President, Ahmad Ahmed are also already being investigated by FIFA for grand corruption that was perpetrated in their capacities as Executive members of the  Confederation of African Football. It had again since been established that Pinnick bribed his ways into being re-elected as NFF President with thousands of dollars. Evidence of $15,000 given to delegates in Warri and Katsina is not in any way hidden from the public. 

Sadly, the Warri born football administrator has practically left his signature of corruption in virtually everything he has handled thus far in office as NFF President and CAF 1st Vice President. One of the indicting evidences of corruption against Amaju Pinnick is the audit report of 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which according to FIFA, it detected that the sum of $801,229 was spent by the Pinick led NFF without any evidence that support the disbursement.

With the last minute 1-2 defeat of the Super Eagles by the Desert Foxes of Algeria, there can be no better time than now for the national teams to forge ahead without the entrenched corruption insignia of Amaju Pinnick than now.  The nation needs to make a total departure from the corruption tainted road map already fashioned for our football by Pinnick and his co-travellers. Better still, there is need for the nation to look inward for superior talents to shore up every department of the Super Eagles where obvious technical deficiency and lapses have been noticed and established.   

It is instructive that the two teams that have advanced to the final of 2019 AFCON are being handled by their indigenous coaches. Nigeria can readily take a cue from this, Although, it is not compulsory for Nigeria to settle for an indigenous coach, however, there is need to move beyond the technical inadequacies of Gernot Rohr. The German has already given his all and he should allow us try our luck with another tactician. 

At this stage of Nigeria football and with all the overwhelming evidences of grand corruption against Amaju Pinnick, it could only be honourable for him to resign with honour. The Egyptian FA Chairman and the entire technical crew of the Egyptian Senior national team promptly did the needful by resigning shortly after their 0-1 elimination by the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. 

Meanwhile, failure of Amaju Pinnack to toe the path of honour should be met with an impeachment by the Executive members of NFF. We have all seen

the legacy of corruption emplaced by Pinnick over the years. He needs to yield space for someone else to dismantle the structures of corruption and restore financial sanity to the Glass House. After all, any man that stays longer than necessary on his excreta should expect to get chased from the spot by vexatious flies.

THIS PIECE DOES NOT IN ANY WAY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF THIS PAPER